By Dave Jolivet, Catholic News ServiceFALL RIVER, Mass. (CNS) -- Father Roger Landry, former pastor of St. Bernadette's Parish in Fall River, has been given a new assignment: working for the Vatican's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations.

By Dale Gavlak, Catholic News ServiceAMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Christians in the Middle East welcomed the release of nearly 20 Assyrian Christians abducted by Islamic State militants in northeastern Syria, but expressed concern that more than 200 others remained in captivity.